Effective Natural UTI Remedies for Quick Relief

I had many yeast infections in my 20s but I first experienced a bladder infection only in my mid thirties. Took the usual course of antibiotics, only to have recurrence a few weeks later. A new sexual partner seemed to be the cause. Infection followed infection, and the doctors, including a bladder specialist, were mystified. After painful and invasive testing and many agonizing weekends spent waiting for help in clinics, I was put on a daily low dose of antibiotics. This was a great relief as I could not have sex without getting an infection within hours. Travel was a nightmare as I didn't have access to my usual doctor, and any sort of stress seemed to bring on infections as well. Even the smell of red wine seemed to trigger that stinging pain in my urethra (so stopped drinking that right away of course). Very little was said to me about diet, and as a vegetarian of almost 15 years I thought I was doing ok on the health front.

Fast forward ten years and while I was no longer on the daily antibiotics I had great sensitivity in my urethra. Sex was still a trigger, even with drinking lots of water, urinating right before and after sex, washing with perfume-free soap right before and after sex, and getting my partner to do the same. Even minor health issues - colds and viruses, PMS, stress at work - seemed to trigger that tingling pain in that part of my body. My sex drive was almost zero as I expected to pay the inevitable price if I had intercourse. I was frustrated but resigned. No doctors had been able to help me.

But 18 months ago, when my keratosis pilaris stopped responding to the over-the-counter lotions I had been using for 20 years, I decided to take my health into my own hands. I took a good look at myself. I was about 155 pounds, with a large behind, thick middle, and sagging jawline. My hair was rapidly going grey, my face was lined and exhausted, and I had no energy. Although my bloodwork came back as normal I felt as though I was on the fast track to a serious illness. Both my parents had died young of cancer and had had multiple health problems throughout their lives. It was time to stop hoping that conventional medicine could help me. I made my KP my test project to learn about and improve my health. I never expected that my journey would help me to manage my bladder infections/interstitial cystitis as well.

Thanks to all the amazing people who have posted to this site I learned a lot about the relationship between food and skin. I stopped eating virtually all processed foods, and started eating more raw vegetables, including lots of spinach and kale (organic whenever possible), and good fats, especially organic eggs, olive oil, avocados, nuts, also organic wild salmon (thus making me no longer a vegetarian). I cut down dramatically on sugar, anything with white flour (and breads in general), and alcohol. I had been drinking white wine almost every day but that is no longer the case, and I would say the quality of my health depends on not drinking more than once or twice a week. I also began eating at least a tablespoon of virgin, cold-pressed, organic coconut oil every day, mixed in to my coffee or just gulping down a spoonful. And the very first thing I consume most mornings is the juice of half a lemon squeezed into a glass of room temperature water. (This helps to make the body alkaline, which can help with fighting infection generally, and in the bladder specifically.)

I began dry brushing, almost every day, and oil pulling, almost every day, with virgin, cold-pressed, organic coconut oil. I also gave up almost all commercially produced lotions and skin creams, and only use coconut oil as a moisturizer and sunscreen in the summer (adding heavier oils, such as rose hip, in the winter as my skin is dry).

The success stories on this site encouraged me to be excited about these changes in my diet but the most encouraging thing was my body. Dry brushing feels fantastic, and oil pulling clarifies the skin and makes the teeth bright white. To my astonishment, my burn-prone skin, which was developing darker pigmentation around my mouth and on my chin, has rarely burned since I stared using organic coconut oil, and the pigmentation has disappeared. I attribute this to the absence of chemical-saturated lotions and sunscreens, and to the twice-daily application of coconut oil to my skin.

My keratosis pilaris has 80% disappeared. The bumps are greatly diminished and the redness is gone except if I happen to eat a lot of wheat, dairy, or drink a lot of alcohol. So I would say that my dietary and skin routine changes are healing my skin but they are a permanent choice for managing the problem rather than a 'cure' that allows one to go back to unhealthy habits.

My dietary changes also helped me to lose 15 pounds and gain new energy and optimism. I believe the dry brushing helps greatly with skin tone too and to a limited extent helps with cellulite. I recently celebrated my 46th birthday, but several people I've met over the last few months said they thought that I was 5-10 years younger than that. My facial wrinkles and skin sagging have by no means vanished but have definitely diminished. My grey hair remains the same : )

Along the way I began to rethink my bladder issues as part of the general health picture of my life. I had read enough on this site to know that all health problems are related, and most stem from diet or exposure to toxic substances. As I child, I was given multiple courses of penicillin, sometimes for weeks at a time, for even minor ailments such as colds. From my research on this and other sites, I realized that these massive doses of antibiotics had probably affected my body permanently, with my propensity to bladder and yeast infections as one effect. What I learned is that after even 3 bladder infections the lining of the bladder is cracked and damaged, which prevents the naturally-occuring e-coli bacteria from flushing out, as it gets stuck in the cracks. Hence why we keep getting the infections, and why as soon as the antibiotics are done they come back.

The supplements I now take daily are with a view to countering my 'normal' state of fragility because of all the antibiotics taken in childhood, and in my thirties and early forties, and the damage to my bladder lining from more than 30 bladder infections. I experimented with doses until I found what seems right for me.

2 capsules of multi-probiotic (10-strain formula), morning and night, and at ANY sign of tingling in the urethra or dull pain in the bladder, always with a lot of water

2 buffered cranberry extract (D-Mannose) tablets before sex, and after sex, always with a lot of water

Morning, with food:

1 1000mg tablet of buffered Vitamin C

1 575mg tablet of Norwegian Kelp (source of iodine - helpful for KP)

1 large cod liver oil capsule (source of Vitamins A, D, and E - good to take together for bladder and skin)

1 capsule of collagen-glucosamine complex (mine has 40mg collagen, and 100mg glucosamine. I read that this supplement helps heal the lining of the bladder, as can hyaluronic acid, and you should take the latter with buffered vitamin C for best effectiveness)

Night:

I tablet of Calcium + Magnesium (important to take together for best effect - this tablet has the additional benefit of helping me to fall asleep)

All this adds up in terms of expense, but the value of not being chained to the medical system is worth it. I now feel I can manage any hint of bladder/cystitis pain at the outset. I recommend bringing the buffered cranberry/D-Mannose tablets with you everywhere you go, as they do not need to be refrigerated and are very discreet. I try not to take them except when necessary/as a targeted preventative as there is some debate as to their effectiveness over time. I think it's fundamentally important to build up your health through diet.

I also only use virgin, cold-pressed, organic coconut oil as a lubricant (you can only use condoms made of polyurethane if you use any kind of oil as a lubricant, btw, otherwise they will break). Coconut oil has natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties and is very good and soothing for your urethra while being an excellent lubricant. Most commercially-produced lubricants contain carcinogenic chemicals and glycerine, which is a sugar, which is the last thing your urethra or vagina need introduced into the moment of sex, as any yeast will go crazy. I also like to use coconut oil after my shower, just smoothing half a teaspoon in to the urethral/vulva/perianal area is great for your sexual health in general if you are prone to yeast or bladder infections, also any yeast-related itching.

I think I will be living with these health issues for the rest of my life but the silver lining to taking charge of my health has been to learn more about what makes me feel good and strong, and to have improved my well-being overall. People say they don't recognize me from 18 months ago and I hardly recognize myself. What's most important is that the entire process has taught me to listen to my body and to make my body the most important thing in my life. To finally give myself the care I needed but was not getting, either at home or in the doctor's office. Interestingly, I found that once I made my health my priority, other struggles in life became easier. I was less likely to burn out at work, or put up with people who took too much of me. As I stopped relying on sugar, carbs, and alcohol to buffer me from the world, I found I had more energy, clarity, and ability to provide myself with self-care and say "no" when it was right for me to say no.

And on that last note, I do think it's possible that whatever your partner consumes (food, alcohol, cigarettes) ends up being a factor in your urethral/bladder health. In the course of my research I've read so many testimonies from women who never had bladder infections until they started seeing boyfriend X. Then their nightmare began. I know that this is beyond the scope of EarthClinic's mission but I do want to say - in case there is anyone out there with a similar story to mine - that the person I was with, who seemed to trigger my miserable decade of struggling with bladder infections, was a smoker and daily consumer of beer.

I am now seeing someone who doesn't smoke or drink beer and there is a palpable difference in the cause-and-effect of sex -> infection. In other words, I have not had an infection since we became intimate. But that could also be 18 months of dedicated change in my diet and taking a very proactive approach to my health.

If you are suffering from cystitis or bladder infections, my heart goes out to you. It is a lonely, invisible, infuriating, and excrutiating condition that no-one can really understand unless they've experienced it themselves. It hurts us in our most vulnerable place. I hope you find your health and your cure very soon, and get your life back - you deserve it! Thank-you to all the people who posted about their KP, bladder problems and solutions. You made a huge difference to my recovery.

D-mannose was a game changer for me after years of recurrent UTIs!

Having had too many UTIs to even count in the last 40 years, I researched long and hard to find something to prevent them rather than just treating them. Knowing that use of antibiotics caused me to have chronic candida issues, several years ago I began using Ted's borax protocol to eradicate the candida. The positive side effect that I have had is I have not had a UTI in 6 years. I have not had a recurrence of the kidney stone issue that I once had. (Once was more than enough).

I used the woman's dosage of 1/8 teaspoon in a liter (quart) of water, sipped throughout the day. I did 4 days on, 3 days off. I did this for several months. Then reduced it to every other month for several months. I now use the protocol several times a year, for a week or so, particularly before during and and after traveling as I tend to have issues with water in other parts of the country and the world. I take a small container of borax with me while traveling and just add a small pinch to water that I drink.

If I get even a small inkling that a UTI may be starting, I start drinking borax water, right away. And within the hour it disappears. In such cases I usually add a pinch to every glass of water throughout that day. It has always taken care of it.

No UTIs in 6 years, no antibiotics in 6 years. No craving sugar or starches either.

Hope this may,

Bj

All would appreciate your response.

Wish you the best. ======ORH======

• I tried oregano EO, 1 drop in 1 tsp of olive oil multiple times/day: did not help.
• I tried a product UTI-clear with uva ursi, echinacea and other herbs: did nothing.
• I paid $190 a homeopath who sold me $160 worth of useless products that did absolutely nothing to "fix my terrain" (his words).
• I am now trying Goldenseal tincture 3x/day.
• If this doesnt work I will try olive leaf.

If that won't work I am at a loss as this bacteria is antibiotics resistant.

I recently had a UTI that I treated with 4 different antibiotics with zero effect. I did not want to take more antibiotics so started to serve the net to find alternative cures.

Your site is excellent and I have tried many of the remedies listed. I also searched for the clinical data to find the evidence base.

I tried

• d mannose
• grapefruit seed extract
• apple cider vinegar
• Turmeric
• olive leaf extract.

All worked for three days then the infection came back.

I have therefore concluded that they are probably all bacteriostatic I.e stop numbers of bacteria increasing but do not resolve the infection.

Antibiotics are either bacteristatic or bacteriocidal I.e kill the bacteria. What we want is bactericidal or to change the flora so good bacteria can outnumber the bad.

The next part was looking at acidophilus. There is no evidence to support that acidophilus has any effect. Lactobacillus acidophilus species in the gut makes no difference to UTI in the bladder. We need ecoli for digestion so upping lactobacillus will not change this.

However Lactobacillus species in the vagina make a massive difference to UTI. The bacterial flora of the vagina can change the bacterial flora of the bladder. There are 27 clinical trials to support this the species they found helped was lactobacillus rhamnous and lactobacillus reuteri.

After 5 weeks of battling the UTI I added in a probiotic containing these two species to apple cider vinegar and finally I have resolved this. I took 2/day for 3 days.

I think that you need to update the site.

1st, they are caused from bacteria getting up into the urethra( the pee pee tube). When you have sex, always pee before and after because during sex, the bacteria get pushed up there.when you pee after, it pushes out the bacteria. A natural sugar found in Cranberries is called D-Mannose powder. Available at all health food stores.

If you have a UTI, take1 teaspoon every few hours for a day. Within 30-45 minutes of the first dose, the pain and fevers will be gone, and the burning. It is a miracle supplement! . It works by making the urethra walls slippery and so the bacteria can't hold on. It's so much easier and healthier than antibiotics. I take it an hour before I know I'm going to have sex with my boyfriend. Works to keep you free of urinary tract infections. Just look it up on the Internet to learn more about it. I like the powder better than the pills. The powder works faster!

I don't know about arthritis, constipation, or blood pressure but the UTI is under control. I was literally losing my mind from lack of sleep and discomfort even with 10 days of antibios. It was the BS and ACV in water 2-3x a day that made the difference. First, separately and now together. I intend to continue this as part of my diet forever.

Amazing! Thanks.

I went in search of a natural antibiotic, and I found one: horseradish. The German version of the FDA has actually acknowledged the power of horseradish in fighting certain bacterial infections, including UTI. It has to be fresh to work, but a tablespoon morning and night has been giving me real results. I chase it with a glass of pure cranberry juice with a teaspoon of powder d-mannose (morning and night), and usually have at least one glass of water with a teaspoon of d-mannose powder during the day (in addition to several glasses of plain water).

I wanted to share this because after trying almost everything (unsuccessfully), this seems to be working. I thought it was important info to share.

And a sidenote, for me at least, the d-mannose powder works much better than the capsule form.

I started taking Acidophilus Pearls every morning and night in addition to unsweetened Cranberry juice and Apple Cider Vinegar in water throughout the day.

For the first few days I took Colloidal silver in water, then switched to a few drops of Wild Oil of Oregano (93%) under the tongue a few times a day.

I took Magnesium and Turmeric for pain and inflammation management. (although I had to mega dose ibuprofen at night as that when it was at its worst)

I really started to improve when one morning on a whim I took a capsule of Activated Charcoal (260mg). The pain completely subsided! I took another around lunch and remained pain free for a few more hours. I couldn't take anymore as I can get very constipated if I take too much. I did this for two days.

The pain did return each late afternoon but I continued with the cranberry juice, OOO and Acidophilus. One the second day of using AC, before bed, I ate some pineapple and drank Senna tea.

The next morning.....no pain. Nothing. Like I never had the infection.

Not sure what finally did it, but happy it's gone after 6 days of agony!

I did continue with the cranberry, Acidopilus and OOO to be sure it wouldn't come back.

This all started 5 years ago when I got a new partner. I had dated this individual before and had gotten regular UTI's when intimate with him. This time, I got 3 (tested positive) UTI's in a row, over a period of maybe 6 months. So I spent a lot of time on serious rounds of anti-biotics. The symptoms would subside briefly and then I'd have another infection. After about 7 months, the tests for UTI's started coming back negative, but the symptoms were still very, very strong.

The doctor told me I had "cystitis" which if you don't know is an "incurable" inflammation of the bladder. I learned to live with the symptoms. It was quite unpleasant to say the least!

I also began to develop on and off vaginal yeast infections, which I treated with yogurt suppositories mostly. I began getting kidney pain, having regular shortness of breath, random abdominal pain and migraines. My previous partner and I had broke up at this point (infidelity issues on his side, which may or may not be relevant.) I went to the urgent care for random kidney/abdominal pain, who suggested possible appendicitis. That didn't feel right to me and I went home and continued having issues.

I became friends with a nutritional healer who told me I had a systemic candida infection. I went on a very strict diet for about 10 months, and all symptoms improved dramatically. Less pain with urination, much fewer headaches, abdominal pain gone, etc. However, when I recently went off the diet, all of the symptoms came rushing back! Kidney pain, yeast infection symptoms, and UTI symptoms. Well, all of these together do of course point to an infection of the urogenital system. But I had seen maybe 7 doctors and gotten nowhere.

I looked into trichomoniasis (which despite being incredibly common is not usually tested for), yeast, scar tissue in the vagina, bacterial vaginosis (even though I didn't have symptoms for that). A common way to treat all of them is with a hydrogen peroxide douche, 3% hydrogen peroxide mixed half and half with distilled water, 1-3 times a day. I told my nutritionist friend that I was going to do this - he recommended doing a douche with probiotics at night to re-inoculate the vagina.

I went out and bought one, I know we can't say the brand name but its very important that it's these specific strains so I'll write the strains: Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuter RC-14. I think I read years ago that these two strains were actually initially cultured out of the vagina of a healthy adult female.

I did the hydrogen peroxide douche last night, followed by two probiotic capsules orally and one in a tablespoon of water vaginally. This morning, I douched with the hydrogen peroxide again and took another probiotic orally. I'm planning on douching twice more today and doing a probiotic douche before bed.

The yeast infection symptoms are 98% gone, and the UTI symptoms have also subsided. This is the first time in 5 years that I've been without the UTI symptoms. I just browsed this article http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/suppl_6/S452.long, which is about fungal infection in the bladder, kidneys, and vagina.

My guess (although of course it is a guess) is that I developed a fungal infection from all of the anit-biotics I took to clear the documented bacterial UTI's. Although I ate extremely large amounts of probiotics through supplements and fermented foods while on the candida cleanse, I think I did not get the right strain to colonize the vagina in all of my efforts.

I hope the good effects keep lasting, and hesitate to write so early as I don't want to get anyone's hopes falsely up. However, when I look at the reviews of this specific probiotic on amazon, it seems to help SO many people with any sort of women's troubles - UTI, yeast, vaginosis, that I thought I would write now just for that. It seems as though it may be akin to having a fecal transplant for patients with severe intestinal issues. I believe that the probiotic is helping more than the douching.

I hope this helps someone; this site has helped me so much. Good health and blessings to all.

1. Probiotics are absolutely necessary to keep this type of infection away. Adding Probiotics can be as simple as the kind you get at a healthfood store or a specific kind for females. Females have 2 specific kinds of friendly bacteria that are not found in males. The jarrow brand FEM is fantastic at assisting repopulation and the only one I have found with the female related probiotic strains.

2. Uva Ursi assists with antibacterial properties - the liquid form is best for acute UTI - be aware it may create a herx (healing crisis) feeling/symptoms if lots of bacteria is present.

3. 8 Righteous Teapills

For me, it takes 5-10 days to get rid of the majority of the symptoms.

Brew a green tea (in a big mug), then add 2 slices of lemon (or squeeze half of it, alternatively use the Vitamin C powder - but don't overdose it), 2 tablespoons of Apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of Manuka honey (or any other if not present), 2 slices of garlic, ginger and some clove and cinnamon (effective against E.coli), cranberry extract if present (or drink the juice separately), if having - mix in half of paracetamol sachet (250-500mg, find one without aspartame). Drink slowly and repeat every few hours during the day.

In addition, please drink plenty of alkaline water. During the night, give your liver a bit rest by drinking alkaline water only (high in pH, 9-10). Eat fresh fruits, vegetables (with peels when possible), food (avoid cooked, which is lack of enzymes) with garlic, onions, spices (ginger, clove and cinnamon) and anything that works as antioxidants. You may monitor your health by urine strips (leukocytes nitrites and blood). If your UTI is advanced to painful testicles or hematospermia (blood in your semen), ejaculate often for relief.

For external treatment, dissolve few drops of tea tree oil in warm water and wash gently. If not present, washing with any commercial gel/shampoo with SLS (neurotoxin) would do the job as well (by killing the bacteria). You can get some sunshine (which will work as detox), if not possible, try infrared sauna for the deep detoxification (raising body temperature assists the body to kill bacteria, parasites, viruses and other infections). Also don't forget to think positively and proper rest and sleep is the key factor as well. If conditions get worse, please contact with the doctor.